Sales Begin at the Chicago Spire

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 16th 2008 at 9:06AM

Luxury condos in one of the most anticipated buildings in the U.S. went on sale this week. CBS2 in Chicago reports that the sales office for the Chicago Spire is now open. The sales office is as posh as the condos themselves with designs created by the architect of the Spire, Santiago Calatrava. Residences at the 2,000-foot-tall Spire are price from $750,000 to $15 million each. I had my doubts about the building when I first heard about it in 2005 but was soundly rebuked by commenters who insisted that this building is exactly what Chicago needs. Despite the sky-high prices and a sluggish real estate market, it is expected that the Spire will sell, not just to people in Chicago, but to people around the world who are eager to live in a Calatrava building. Those who buy are in for a long wait, move in isn't expected until 2012.

Tags: chicago, chicago spire, condominiums, condos, santiago calatrava, starchitecture

Filed under: Estates

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Spectacular Bid Jan 16th 2008 10:53AM

An illtimed project that IMO will fail to get the sales it'll need to come to fruition. Chicago has a huge glut of high end real estate - e.g., even the Trump offering which isn't ready for occupancy is struggling despite having soaked up plenty of buyers when times were still booming. Lets face it there is a recession on the horizon and uber vanity projects like this just don't work.

The people behind the spire will be praying each night that Chicago gets the Olympics and only then will it get a possible international boost. The just announced $900million needed to make the Olympics happen is not being well received.

While still enjoying a very positive reputation in particular with international visitors, Chicago has major problems looming on the horizon within the city government dealing with budgets and delivery of key services. Every city in the US is in the same boat to be sure, but unlike say a Miami Chicago will be just 5 degrees this weekend. The Millenium Park, AIC, and other museums aside never forget Chicago is brutal in the winter and how attractive is that?

arthur martinez Jan 20th 2008 12:33PM

Spoken like a true non-Chicagoan.Buildings like The Spire don't get built in any place but chicago...because this town has the imagination, the spirit and the will. I heard the same insipid reasoning befor John Hancock, Sears Tower and more recentally Millinium Park where built. Chicago's so called 'brutal' winter is a non factor...if it was remotely significant there are a score of great cities that would never have been built...Miami is great, but give me a break..it takes much more than weather and nice beaches to make a city great.
The Columbian Expostition in 1893 and 1933 Century of Progress, both occured in times of deep natitional economic DEPRESSION. A recession may stop some builders or home buyers...but someone shopping for a 15 million dollar home is not gonna be that worried
Lastly...what really annoyed me about your post was the spin on the Olympics. '...not well recieved'. What? Whom? no details...becuseit has been less than 48 hours...not nearly enough time to read the proposals and form a objective opinion